Alt Carbon, a climate tech startup based in India, has successfully raised $12 million in a seed funding round led by Lachy Groom, co-founder of Physical Intelligence. This significant investment will fuel Alt Carbon's expansion of its innovative carbon dioxide removal technology, enhanced rock weathering, across India. The company utilizes waste basalt rock dust to enhance soil fertility while simultaneously capturing and storing atmospheric carbon for thousands of years. This approach offers a cost-effective alternative to other carbon removal methods, with estimated carbon credits priced significantly lower than direct air capture.
Alt Carbon's technology involves spreading basalt dust on farmlands, where it reacts with rainwater to form stable bicarbonate ions that are locked away as calcium carbonate in the ocean. The company has already piloted its method on hundreds of acres of farmland and aims to scale its operations to 500,000 hectares by 2030, removing 5 million tons of carbon in the process. This expansion will be supported by the new funding, which will also be used to expand laboratory facilities, enhance data collection through remote sensing and sensor deployment, and further develop its proprietary Hari Maati blend.
